Tilman Kispersky Ph.D. Title: Neuronal compensation for intrinsic variability and temperature perturbations. Funding Opportunity: PA-11-113 We kindly request that this application be submitted to: National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke - NINDS Referees: 1. John A. White Ph.D., Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 2. Nancy J. Kopell Ph.D., Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, Boston, MA 3. Paul Miller Ph.D., Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 4. Theoden Netoff Ph.D, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Variability is inherent in nervous systems and many neurological disease states are correlated with neuronal properties that fall outside of the normal range. Our application will help build an understanding of how normally functioning neuronal circuits can compensate for variability which may have relevance for understanding how the onset of neurological disorders is prevented. Further, our application will provide fundamental insights which will help in assessing which nervous system perturbations lead to the highest disease susceptibility or, conversely, which perturbations could have the highest medically therapeutic value.